This devotional appears in the May/June 2016 issue of FCA Magazine featuring Stephen Curry. Read the Curry cover story

The “experts” said Stephen Curry didn’t have the makings of an NBA superstar. He didn’t even fit the typical mold of a top Division I athlete. But he refused to squander what God had placed within him or become complacent in his play. Curry worked relentlessly to fashion his quick-draw ball slinging, determined to refute the naysayers. And he revolutionized the strength of the small man.

Curry plays with passion, for something more than getting gold on the hardwood: “I want people to know when they see me play that something is different. I just hope by the way I carry myself and by the way I play the game, they can see there’s something different about that guy.”

He’s never been one to let man’s assessment define him, crafting and cultivating the gifts given from God to step into the spotlight to shine His glory into the world. We’re all fashioned with specific personalities, traits and talents from before time began, originating from our Creator. We’re woven with purpose.

“I’ve always been a believer that the Lord has put whatever talent in you, [and] whatever gift He has put in you, He wants you to get the most out of that. He wants you to succeed; He wants you to pursue and work and be passionate about it,” Curry says.

Calling is where your passions and God’s needs collide. What burns underneath your pulse? What drives you? What weighs on your heart more than anything else?

Don’t be afraid to fight for what you know God has called you to, even when it appears it will take a hard swim upstream against the current. At the end of the river, there will always be people standing, quick to discredit and send you right back from where you came. But stay confident that you can do all things in Christ. Seek out those who will strengthen and encourage you on your journey. Believe your God-given abilities are ready and waiting for you to harness and then let loose.

If you feel stuck in the stigmas of what society stamps as acceptable and traditional, do not let your thoughts stray to how you may not fit the mold—too scrawny, not tenacious enough, underappreciated or overlooked. What makes you unique may just be what this groaning earth needs.

Like Curry, you too can revolutionize your world. Let yourself come alive and dig into the ground of your gifts, allowing God to shape, shift and strengthen them to do a new thing that has never been seen before.